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民主党选举变动、政治暴力、战争、枪击、最高法院裁决、大选、名人死亡。
如果持续的新闻轰炸让你感到焦虑、惊讶、情绪低落或不知所措——何况你还得考虑每天的生活,例如工作、照看孩子等——有此感受的并非只有你一人。
俄亥俄州立大学韦克斯纳医学中心(Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)Gabbe健康办公室和压力、创伤和复原力(STAR)项目主任、心理医生阿里安娜·加利格尔解释说:“每当我们面临不确定性的时候,我们的大脑就会进入‘或战或逃’模式,这实际上是我们的身体按下了暂停键,以弄清楚如何以最佳的方式应对危机。我觉得人们之所以难以像平时那样做出反应,是因为肾上腺素和皮质醇没了用武之地,尤其是在自身生存受到威胁,而且不知道该具体做什么的时候。”
加利格尔解释说,“或战或逃”模式简而言之就是大脑在感知到某种威胁之后的化学物质释放。她说:“这些化学物质可以让人产生不同的行为反应。”一种表现是“战斗”创伤反应,“也就是人们会尝试反抗所有可能的威胁”,她对《财富》杂志说道。
另一个表现是“逃跑”,这意味着你的直觉是远离或规避这一局面。还有“不知所措”的现象,也就是“很多人在某种程度上会陷入呆滞,因为实在是想不出任何应对之策。”也存在“讨好”现象,即“某种程度的放弃、投降或者尝试平息事态。”
每个人会如何反应取决于很多因素,包括事情本身、个人此前的生活经历以及你的直接感受。她说:“不管你做出了何种反应,该反应的本意就是帮助你度过这场危机。”
尤其在唐纳德·特朗普遭暗杀未遂之后,“所有人都希望弄清楚,到底发生了什么?这一切意味着什么?我们今后该何去何从?接下来会怎么样?我觉得,这类事件的发生会引发一定程度的恐惧感,这是十分正常的现象,例如进展怎么样了,会产生什么后果?”
另一个常见的反应是愤怒
如果你没有陷入呆滞 ,反而将怒火发泄在配偶身上呢?马里兰州心理医师史蒂夫•斯托斯尼表示,这可能是人们无法面对负面新闻的另一种反应。在2016年大选期间,斯托斯尼杜撰了“头条新闻应激障碍”(headline stress disorder)一词,用于指代头条新闻所引发的压力和焦虑。此外,全天候的新闻循环播报、社交媒体、持续不断的战争和不断增长的指责会不断融入工作、社交和家庭生活,压力和焦虑将愈发严重。
斯托斯尼是《一飞冲天:如何使用大脑中最复杂的部位应对各种压力》(Soar Above: How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress)一书的作者,他对《财富》杂志说:“焦虑通常是一种常见的中央神经系统反应。换句话说,它并非是由特定的事物触发,而是人们大脑应对整个周边环境的一种方式,愤怒一直都是指责的导火索。同时,有关指责的规律显示,最终,最亲近的那个人将成为指责对象。”
他说,这一点是“经典的弗洛伊德式愤怒转移。”早在2016年,斯托斯尼在治疗伊始就会问客户,争吵之前的一瞬间都发生了什么?斯托斯尼的治疗对象是那些长期受怨恨、愤怒和情感虐待折磨的人士。他说:“超过80%的时间,这些人的手机会不停地收到新闻讯息提示……因此,你的愤怒阈值大幅降低了,点燃怒火并不用耗费多大力气。
今后该怎么办?要有意识地去做事,不要盲目吸收负面消息
加利格尔表示:“世界一直在变化。”她说,为了让自己顺应这一趋势,“人们确实得有意识地去做一些事情。”
如果你觉得难以应对,感到左右为难,或无法集中注意力,那么可以先深呼吸几次,然后仔细审视自身目前的状态。她说:“你的大脑可能会陷入一定程度的慌乱,这是正常的。”不过问问自己,“如今,你眼前都有什么?……关于你接下来需要关注的事情,哪些方面是你或多或少可以掌控的?”或许,你可以掌控的事情就是短时间地放下手头正在做的事情,让自己放松一下。
她建议说:“有些事情可能在你掌控范围内,例如马上为自己与某类媒体的互动设限。”(例如停止狂刷负面新闻)。“是否可以调整自身的新闻阅读量,让其能够更好地帮助自己度过每一天?”规定自己每天只能在早上和下午各查看新闻一次,但不能在睡前查阅。记住:“如果真出现了一些极其重要的突发新闻……它们会通过多个渠道传播,因此我们肯定不会错过。”
斯托斯尼建议关掉所有新闻提示信息,并将更多的时间用于开展活动和亲近自然,并花时间与朋友和家人进行深入沟通。
专注于可掌控的事物
斯托斯尼表示:“当专注的事情并不受自己掌控时,人们都会变得焦虑或愤怒。这也是为什么人们会对政治和宗教这类他们无法左右的事情感到愤怒的原因。如果你所专注的事情在自己影响范围之内,例如自身行为,家人福祉以及非常重要的事情”,那么人们就不会慌乱。
斯托斯尼还表示,人们还有必要记住和欣赏自身应对困难的能力。他说:“你知道的[负面新闻]越少,那么你对此事的焦虑感就越小。”一个无法预料的因素就是你对自身应对能力的认知程度。他对此进行了解释:换句话说,你担心会发生不好的事情,例如你讨厌的候选者当选,但你对此却是无能为力。他说:“你觉得自己无力应对此事,不过你也将释然,因为此前也有过类似先例,自己也都挺过来了。”
人们还可以采取更多的举措,斯托斯尼建议说:首先,放慢思考节奏。“焦虑思想很快就会过去,远快于主动关注,因此人们有必要给思考降降速……每次思考都会刺激身体产生少量皮质醇,而某些思考将刺激肾上腺素的分泌,继而引发或战或逃的反应。”接下来,测算每个担忧事件的可能性,然后列出一个具体清单,标明如果最恐惧的事情发生了,自己都可以做哪些事情。
划定边界——允许自己开小差
加利格尔警告说,每个人都需要支持系统以及一些空间来消化他人给自己带来的焦虑,“我认为寻求支持系统的帮助确实具有治疗作用,前提是你得划定边界,这样就不会出现恐慌思维相互助长的局面。”关键在于,在讨论当中要留意获取相互支持,并掌握如何在事情开始“远超范围并滑向焦虑深渊”之前,将其引导回来。
当与持有不同观念的人打交道时,划定边界亦十分重要。“如果对话氛围开始变得过于紧张或过于激动,可以选择暂停讨论。我们可以说,‘好吧,今天就到此为止把。我希望保护我们之间的关系,而且我们对此持有不同看法。可以聊点别的吗?’”
最终,别忘了开展一些有时间限制、有益身心的消遣活动,可以是观看一部有趣的电影、逗乐视频或最新的TikTok舞蹈。加利格尔说:“每个人都需要放松一下。”
她说,最重要的还是努力寻找平衡。“人们应该采取一种类似于摆动的策略,也就是在一段时间内应该有意识地去了解全世界发生的事情,然后向前[迈进]……再转向自我照顾的需要?为自己画一个框架,然后游走于框架内部,我觉得对于大家来说,这种自定的条框或许要健康得多。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
民主党选举变动、政治暴力、战争、枪击、最高法院裁决、大选、名人死亡。
如果持续的新闻轰炸让你感到焦虑、惊讶、情绪低落或不知所措——何况你还得考虑每天的生活,例如工作、照看孩子等——有此感受的并非只有你一人。
俄亥俄州立大学韦克斯纳医学中心(Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)Gabbe健康办公室和压力、创伤和复原力(STAR)项目主任、心理医生阿里安娜·加利格尔解释说:“每当我们面临不确定性的时候,我们的大脑就会进入‘或战或逃’模式,这实际上是我们的身体按下了暂停键,以弄清楚如何以最佳的方式应对危机。我觉得人们之所以难以像平时那样做出反应,是因为肾上腺素和皮质醇没了用武之地,尤其是在自身生存受到威胁,而且不知道该具体做什么的时候。”
加利格尔解释说,“或战或逃”模式简而言之就是大脑在感知到某种威胁之后的化学物质释放。她说:“这些化学物质可以让人产生不同的行为反应。”一种表现是“战斗”创伤反应,“也就是人们会尝试反抗所有可能的威胁”,她对《财富》杂志说道。
另一个表现是“逃跑”,这意味着你的直觉是远离或规避这一局面。还有“不知所措”的现象,也就是“很多人在某种程度上会陷入呆滞,因为实在是想不出任何应对之策。”也存在“讨好”现象,即“某种程度的放弃、投降或者尝试平息事态。”
每个人会如何反应取决于很多因素,包括事情本身、个人此前的生活经历以及你的直接感受。她说:“不管你做出了何种反应,该反应的本意就是帮助你度过这场危机。”
尤其在唐纳德·特朗普遭暗杀未遂之后,“所有人都希望弄清楚,到底发生了什么?这一切意味着什么?我们今后该何去何从?接下来会怎么样?我觉得,这类事件的发生会引发一定程度的恐惧感,这是十分正常的现象,例如进展怎么样了,会产生什么后果?”
另一个常见的反应是愤怒
如果你没有陷入呆滞 ,反而将怒火发泄在配偶身上呢?马里兰州心理医师史蒂夫•斯托斯尼表示,这可能是人们无法面对负面新闻的另一种反应。在2016年大选期间,斯托斯尼杜撰了“头条新闻应激障碍”(headline stress disorder)一词,用于指代头条新闻所引发的压力和焦虑。此外,全天候的新闻循环播报、社交媒体、持续不断的战争和不断增长的指责会不断融入工作、社交和家庭生活,压力和焦虑将愈发严重。
斯托斯尼是《一飞冲天:如何使用大脑中最复杂的部位应对各种压力》(Soar Above: How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress)一书的作者,他对《财富》杂志说:“焦虑通常是一种常见的中央神经系统反应。换句话说,它并非是由特定的事物触发,而是人们大脑应对整个周边环境的一种方式,愤怒一直都是指责的导火索。同时,有关指责的规律显示,最终,最亲近的那个人将成为指责对象。”
他说,这一点是“经典的弗洛伊德式愤怒转移。”早在2016年,斯托斯尼在治疗伊始就会问客户,争吵之前的一瞬间都发生了什么?斯托斯尼的治疗对象是那些长期受怨恨、愤怒和情感虐待折磨的人士。他说:“超过80%的时间,这些人的手机会不停地收到新闻讯息提示……因此,你的愤怒阈值大幅降低了,点燃怒火并不用耗费多大力气。
今后该怎么办?要有意识地去做事,不要盲目吸收负面消息
加利格尔表示:“世界一直在变化。”她说,为了让自己顺应这一趋势,“人们确实得有意识地去做一些事情。”
如果你觉得难以应对,感到左右为难,或无法集中注意力,那么可以先深呼吸几次,然后仔细审视自身目前的状态。她说:“你的大脑可能会陷入一定程度的慌乱,这是正常的。”不过问问自己,“如今,你眼前都有什么?……关于你接下来需要关注的事情,哪些方面是你或多或少可以掌控的?”或许,你可以掌控的事情就是短时间地放下手头正在做的事情,让自己放松一下。
她建议说:“有些事情可能在你掌控范围内,例如马上为自己与某类媒体的互动设限。”(例如停止狂刷负面新闻)。“是否可以调整自身的新闻阅读量,让其能够更好地帮助自己度过每一天?”规定自己每天只能在早上和下午各查看新闻一次,但不能在睡前查阅。记住:“如果真出现了一些极其重要的突发新闻……它们会通过多个渠道传播,因此我们肯定不会错过。”
斯托斯尼建议关掉所有新闻提示信息,并将更多的时间用于开展活动和亲近自然,并花时间与朋友和家人进行深入沟通。
专注于可掌控的事物
斯托斯尼表示:“当专注的事情并不受自己掌控时,人们都会变得焦虑或愤怒。这也是为什么人们会对政治和宗教这类他们无法左右的事情感到愤怒的原因。如果你所专注的事情在自己影响范围之内,例如自身行为,家人福祉以及非常重要的事情”,那么人们就不会慌乱。
斯托斯尼还表示,人们还有必要记住和欣赏自身应对困难的能力。他说:“你知道的[负面新闻]越少,那么你对此事的焦虑感就越小。”一个无法预料的因素就是你对自身应对能力的认知程度。他对此进行了解释:换句话说,你担心会发生不好的事情,例如你讨厌的候选者当选,但你对此却是无能为力。他说:“你觉得自己无力应对此事,不过你也将释然,因为此前也有过类似先例,自己也都挺过来了。”
人们还可以采取更多的举措,斯托斯尼建议说:首先,放慢思考节奏。“焦虑思想很快就会过去,远快于主动关注,因此人们有必要给思考降降速……每次思考都会刺激身体产生少量皮质醇,而某些思考将刺激肾上腺素的分泌,继而引发或战或逃的反应。”接下来,测算每个担忧事件的可能性,然后列出一个具体清单,标明如果最恐惧的事情发生了,自己都可以做哪些事情。
划定边界——允许自己开小差
加利格尔警告说,每个人都需要支持系统以及一些空间来消化他人给自己带来的焦虑,“我认为寻求支持系统的帮助确实具有治疗作用,前提是你得划定边界,这样就不会出现恐慌思维相互助长的局面。”关键在于,在讨论当中要留意获取相互支持,并掌握如何在事情开始“远超范围并滑向焦虑深渊”之前,将其引导回来。
当与持有不同观念的人打交道时,划定边界亦十分重要。“如果对话氛围开始变得过于紧张或过于激动,可以选择暂停讨论。我们可以说,‘好吧,今天就到此为止把。我希望保护我们之间的关系,而且我们对此持有不同看法。可以聊点别的吗?’”
最终,别忘了开展一些有时间限制、有益身心的消遣活动,可以是观看一部有趣的电影、逗乐视频或最新的TikTok舞蹈。加利格尔说:“每个人都需要放松一下。”
她说,最重要的还是努力寻找平衡。“人们应该采取一种类似于摆动的策略,也就是在一段时间内应该有意识地去了解全世界发生的事情,然后向前[迈进]……再转向自我照顾的需要?为自己画一个框架,然后游走于框架内部,我觉得对于大家来说,这种自定的条框或许要健康得多。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
A Democratic campaign shake-up. Political violence. War. Shootings. Supreme Court decisions. Election campaigning. High-profile deaths.
If the constant barrage of news is leaving you feeling anxious, stunned, deflated, or paralyzed—particularly when it comes to getting through the regular tasks of your day, from work to childcare—you are definitely not alone.
“Anytime we’re faced with a moment of uncertainty, our brain is going to go into that ‘fight or flight’ mode—which is really just our body’s way of installing a pause point to figure out how best to navigate through a crisis,” explains therapist Arianna Galligher, director of the Gabbe Well-Being Office and the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “I think what makes it so challenging to function as typical—particularly when the threat is more of an existential nature, and there’s nothing concrete to do—there really isn’t any place for that adrenaline and cortisol to go.”
“Fight or flight,” Galligher explains, is the shorthand way of referring to the release of chemicals that occurs in the brain when it perceives some sort of a threat. “It can manifest in different kinds of behavioral reactions,” she says. On one end is the “fight” trauma response, “where you’re going to try to stand up against whatever that threat may be,” she tells Fortune.
On the other end is “flight,” meaning your instinct will be to run away from or avoid the situation. Then there’s “freeze,” which is “where a lot of people sort of feel paralyzed, because it’s really hard to find any action to take,” Galligher explains. And then there’s “fawn,” where we “just sort of give up, surrender, and or try to placate the situation.”
How an individual responds depends on many things—the situation, one’s previous life experiences, and simply how you’re wired. “But whatever your reaction is, it’s really meant to help you survive through that crisis,” she says.
Particularly in the aftermath of an event such as the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, she adds, “We’re all sort of collectively trying to make sense of what happened. What does it mean? How do we move forward? What’s going to happen next? I think there’s a little bit of dread that is really common to accompany events like this, where it’s like, where does it end?”
Another common response is anger
What if you’re not feeling particularly frozen, but instead find yourself snapping at your spouse? That could be another response to bad-news overload, explains Maryland-based therapist Steven Stosny, who coined the phrase “headline stress disorder” during the 2016 election cycle, referring to stress and anxiety triggered by news headlines—and fueled by 24-hour news cycles, social media, ongoing wars, and increasing vitriol—that spills into work, social, and family life.
“Anxiety is a general central nervous system response,” Stosny, the author of Soar Above: How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress, tells Fortune. “In other words, it’s not specific to what triggered it. It’s your brain’s way of processing your entire environment—and anger is always an attribution of blame. And the law of blame is that eventually it goes to the closest person.”
That, he says, is “classic Freudian displacement of anger.” In his practice, where he specializes in people dealing with chronic resentment, anger, and emotional abuse, he started asking clients what had happened immediately before an argument back in 2016. “Over 80% of the time it was that they had been getting news alerts on their smartphone … So your threshold of anger is greatly lowered, and it doesn’t take as much to trigger it,” he says.
How do we keep going? Be intentional—and stop doomscrolling.
“The world keeps turning,” says Galligher. And to do that ourselves, she says, “we do have to be a little bit intentional.”
If you feel overwhelmed or stuck or unable to concentrate, start by taking a few deep breaths while taking stock of where you are right now. “It makes sense that your mind might go to a little bit of a catastrophic place,” she says, but ask yourself, “What’s right here in front of you right now? … What is it that you actually have some control over in terms of what you’re going to focus on next?” Maybe what you can control is stepping away from whatever you’re doing for a few minutes and taking a break.
“Maybe what you can control is setting limits with how much you engage with certain forms of media right now,” she suggests (for example: stop doomscrolling). “Can you adjust your dose of the news to be a little bit more in line with what’s going to help you function throughout the day?” Give yourself permission to check news updates maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but never close to bedtime, knowing that “ if there really is some kind of dire breaking news … they will come across multiple avenues, so we’re not going to miss it.”
Stosny recommends disabling all news alerts—as well as spending more time being active and in nature, and making time to really connect with friends and family.
Focus on what you can control
“You’re always going to be anxious or angry when you focus on things you can’t control—that’s why people get angry about politics and religion, things that can’t really influence,” Stosny says. “So if you focus on what you can influence, which is your own behavior, the well-being of your family, things that are really important,” he says, that will be calming.
Also vital, notes Stosny, is to remember and appreciate your ability to cope with difficult things. “The less you know about [a stressful bit of news], the more anxious you’re going to be about it. And the wild card is your perceived ability to cope,” he says, explaining that, in other words, you’re worried that something bad is going to happen—the candidate you hate wins, for example—and you’re not going to be able to handle it. “You don’t think you can cope with it,” he says, “but of course, you will. Other candidates have won before, and you coped with it.”
You can then take it a step further, Stosny recommends: First, slow down your thoughts. “The anxious thoughts go by very fast, much faster than conscious attention, and you need to slow them down … as each thought is stimulating a little bit of cortisol, and some of them are stimulating adrenaline for that fight or flight response.” Next, assign each worry a probability, and then make a concrete list of what you could do if your worst fear comes true.
Have boundaries—and give yourself permission for distractions
Everybody needs a support system and some space for processing their anxieties with those people, Galligher says—with a caveat: “I think engaging with your support system can be really therapeutic, as long as you put a frame around it so that you’re not feeding off of each other’s catastrophic thought process.” It’s all about being intentional about accessing mutual support in your discussions—and knowing how to walk it back when it starts to “get too far into a realm of Armageddon.”
It’s also important to have boundaries when engaging with people who have different perspectives. “If the conversation starts to get too contentious or too emotional, you know, what? We can say, ‘Okay, that’s enough for now. I want to preserve this relationship, and we don’t agree on this. So what can we talk about instead?’”
Finally, don’t forget about time-limited, healthy distractions—whether that means watching a funny movie, silly cat videos or the latest TikTok dance. “Everybody needs a break,” Galligher says.
Bottom line, she says, is to try and find balance. “It makes sense to adopt sort of an oscillation strategy where you’re going to intentionally engage with what’s going on in the world for a time, and then [move] toward … What do I need now to be able to take care of myself? Setting up a frame for yourself where you’re moving back and forth between those two I think tends to be a much healthier cadence for people.”